James Ramsbotham

James Ramsbotham became Chair of Newcastle Building Society in August 2021. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce for 15 years and was Chairman of the Darlington Building Society until December 2017.

Previously James was Vice Chairman of the Esh Group, the award-winning North East construction group. Before that, he spent 14 years in Corporate Banking in Barclays Bank plc (throughout the UK), latterly as Marketing Director.

James is Chair of Newcastle Strategic Solutions Limited as well as being Chair of the Society’s Nominations Committee. He is also a member of the Society’s Group Risk Committee. He was a soldier for 12 years with the Royal Green Jackets, and benefited from executive education at Harvard (USA), INSEAD (France), and Oxford University after graduating from Durham University.

James is also a Non-Executive Director for Hargreaves Land, part of Hargreaves Services PLC. He is Honorary Colonel for The Rifles in County Durham, Trustee for The Foundation of Light (Sunderland AFC) and a Deputy Lieutenant for Co. Durham. He also gives time to Durham Cathedral, Sunderland University, and various other charitable organisations.

He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration by Sunderland University in 2016; made an Honorary Fellow of the Association of International Accountants (FAIA Hon.) in 2017; and made a CBE for services to business and the North East economy in the 2019 New Year’s Honours.